5th gen 4Runner underpowered

Thrasher_S said:
I'm relatively new here, but it seems people are pretty openly critical of the current drivetrain. It's proven reliable and dependable, but is unexciting. I mean... it's a 4.0 V6 that wasn't cutting edge when it was first produced and it's now 10 years old. It also has the aerodynamics of a brick. I think people are really only quick to be defensive when someone is critical of something they should have known BEFORE buying a 4Runner. It has the same towing capacity as a non-hybrid Highlander. The cheapest F250 has 246% the towing capacity!
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:usa2:
 
OP has been here 6 years, but just found out that the V6 is 'underpowered' for towing in the mountains...
 
Thrasher_S said:
I'm relatively new here, but it seems people are pretty openly critical of the current drivetrain. It's proven reliable and dependable, but is unexciting. I mean... it's a 4.0 V6 that wasn't cutting edge when it was first produced and it's now 10 years old. It also has the aerodynamics of a brick. I think people are really only quick to be defensive when someone is critical of something they should have known BEFORE buying a 4Runner. It has the same towing capacity as a non-hybrid Highlander. The cheapest F250 has 246% the towing capacity!
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The 4.0 V6 is essentially the 1GR-FE which has been updated from VVTi to Dual VVTi. It has been in use since 2003. So yes, outdated, but it has been proven to be a very reliable engine. For those of you complaining, just wait until the next gen gets the 3.5 from the turd gen Tacoma.
 
Hmmm hopefully my feeble memory serves me still with the names in this post.

When I took my 1986 FJ60 out to Colorado from the great lakes states to do some elk hunting, I had to use 2nd gear (15-20mph) just to get over Eisenhower pass en-route from Denver to the Colorado River Road turn-off to Burns and beyond (flat top mountains area). The 5th gen 4Runner has about the same weight as that FJ60. The FJ60 had 135HP and about 215 #-ft of Tq from the factory...

Count your blessings.

I did re-gear my front and rear diffs to bring back stock ratios with 33" mud terrains, but still that old gal would be at redline doing 70mph.

Oh, and I loved that 25+ hour one-way journey in the FJ60. The ARB bull bar I have on the front of the FJ60 took the brunt of a deer at 70mph at 1:00am coming across Nebraska with just a slight tweak in angles. The deer that jumped out ten feet in front of me was launched 30+ feet high in the air and landed in the center median.

I'll be selling that FJ60 soon to upgrade to the under-powered 4Runner or the Tacoma.
 
Thrasher_S said:
I don't remember Toyota advertising the 4Runner for towing up mountains at 80+mph. Sounds like the OP needs an F350.
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Truly the most sensible answer for all these tow threads.

I just bought mine, coming from a newer Mercedes sedan with a NA V6, drove a V8 Camaro and a highly modified Subaru WRX as well. These 4Runners aren't underpowered ONE BIT.

The throttle mapping was programmed by Simple Jack, but buying a Pedal Commander made this truck every bit as gutsy as its 4.0 liters advertise. I don't find the inability to cruise efficiently at 80+mph to be a flaw, no more than I find my Mercedes' inability to rock crawl to be a flaw, despite being able to cruise at 100+mph like it was 50 mph.
 
Orc said:
A chevy small block and a bullet proof 6 speed would be better, push rod or not! The 4.0 is a great engine for what it is but a small block is a great engine and it sounds great too plus parts are cheap
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That's a good thing when you have to rebuild it every 100k miles.
 
MossJenks said:
That's a good thing when you have to rebuild it every 100k miles.
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My family has owned a lot of small blocks. My dad's 1977? Had over 150k the 1984 had 430k and my uncles 1986 had a whopping 750k he replaced nearly everything but the engine trans and rear end. I know it needed a new steering gear and that was rare to wear it out. Those trucks were 305 cubic inch.

My 2000 and 2005 4.8 were trouble free for 100k. Business trucks that I drove frequently. Chevy makes a solid drivetrain, it's the rest of the truck. My wife's trailblazer had horrid electrical issues and the door cards fell off but it ran great.
 
regear to 4.56, as good or better than a supercharger with less stress on engine and all the complications
 
Thats a lot of whining.

4Runner does just fine and exactly how it is rated and described when you buy it. Want to tow more - get another vehicle.
 
Schargedtaco said:
We recently bought a 2010 limited v6 4Runner 6 months ago. I currently have a 2004 v8 sport edition with oversized tires, a 2006 stock height limited v8 and a 2004 SR5 v6. Our family loves 4runners I guess! I just got back towing a 2400 empty pound travel trailer from St George ut to Salt Lake City. Speed limit is 80 mph I kept the truck at 80- 85mph most of the way no trailer attached I was getting 14 mpg unloaded no trailer on the way to st George. Horrible. On the return trip with the 2400 pound trailer heading back to salt lake going up in elevation it really struggled to go any faster than 60mpg unless I kept downshifting to 3rd avg grade, It would move like a raped ape in 3rd but once it upshifted to 4th you could tell 4th was far to tall as RPMs and speed immediately dropped. Very annoying, It was a late night tow and of course after 9+ hours there and back I wanted to get home. Getting passed by diesels like I’m stopped. It was 50- 60 mpg or less the entire way unless on flat or Downhill or if I’d rev the crap out of it in 3rd on hills watching gas gauge plummet to stay 65-70. It just kept gear hunting 3-4 far more than any v6 I’d towed with before.
I usually tow with my v8s but my wife likes the comfort of the 5th gen and I thought what the heck. Never again! Probably took years off it’s life with all the gear hunting.
The new v6 auto tranny is awful for towing they geared far to high in 4 and 5 trying to achieve 22mpg rating, sure I can achieve 19 -20 all day long if I’m under 70 but I didn’t realize how much it would kill the rating to go 80-85. I didn’t realize how effortless the v8 power made a long trip.
Until I towed with this thing,
What’s beyond me is the 4Runner has always been known as a legendary off road vehicle for active outdoor enthusiasts. Most people into those activities are going to be towing and have extra gear. It seems Toyota is more concerned about appeasing the epa and putting 20 inch wheels on to keep more people on the road than off it. Since we’ve owned it I’ve felt it was pretty gutless unless you floor it then it’s fine. Ive read countless posts stating you just have to press the pedal harder. The truth is the motor does have good output for its bulky weight. It’s just the gearing, the throttle mapping and the torque curve or usable power band is sub par. Sure it will get the job done towing and is fine unloaded but if your looking to tow anything other than a utility trailer def get an older 4th gen v8 or v6. Even my 04 v6 towes amazing.
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Have you tried mashing on the accelerator?
 
OP didn't mention if they had a full car load of adults with gear in the cabin..
Combined with a 2400lbs empty trailer, could they have been close to the limit on overall weight capacity?
 
97BlackAckCL said:
Some people will never be happy because it's not a V8 or a turbo-diesel
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They sell a V8 version of 4Runner. It is called GX460. Not much more expensive than TRD Pro. Looked at it, did not care for plastic around and leather.

And they sell Sequoia. Not a bad car at all. And, look, there are plenty of other males and models that can tow better. Why in the world did OP get 4Runner and acts surprised.
 
Offwidth said:
They sell a V8 version of 4Runner. It is called GX460. Not much more expensive than TRD Pro. Looked at it, did not care for plastic around and leather.

And they sell Sequoia. Not a bad car at all. And, look, there are plenty of other males and models that can tow better. Why in the world did OP get 4Runner and acts surprised.
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Yep, I looked at the GX460 and 470's before I bought my 5th gen as well
 
I love how uptight this section gets when you point out a flaw of the 5th gen. The GX460 is not the modern V8 4Runner. At one point, they made a V8 4Runner and a GX470 for separate reasons.

That said, I think the 4th gen really hurt the appeal of the 4Runner. To make it worse, the pre-facelift 5th gen showed how lost Toyota was with the 4Runner after the 4th gen. WITH the 5th gen facelift, they nailed it. The 4Runner's popularity is back to where it was, even without a V8. I don't think the 4Runner needs a V8, but it helps a hell of a lot.
 
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